Shop Pêche Is Making Korean Fashion More Accessible to Everyone

Like many people, I have a habit of browsing Instagram for at least 20 minutes before I fall asleep. I catch up on all the day's memes, Nat Geo posts, bloggers' outfits of the day, engagement posts, and so on. More often than not, I end up in a deep fashion hole, tapping on product links and checking out what my favorite fashionistas are buying or wearing, hoping to find hidden gems. This was how I stumbled upon the store Shop Pêche.

The e-commerce site (there's also a brick-and-mortar store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) carries more than 20 different Korean brands and offers minimalist clothes, shoes, and handbags. All the Shop Pêche pieces are sourced by 28-year-old Jiwon Eom, who travels back and forth from South Korea to retrieve the garments from local brands. She keeps the prices low, "nothing is over $200," she tells me, and announces new items, which come in limited quantities, via social media to her 14.2k (and growing) followers.

Shop Pêche, which launched online in 2017, is a reflection of Eom's nostalgia for wearable, everyday fashion from her home country. She moved to the States when she was 16, and studied garment production and international trade at the Fashion Institute of Technology before landing a corporate role with a sportswear company.

"I've loved shopping since I was young, but I lost the joy of that when I've moved to New York," Eom says. "Things I wanted to wear were so expensive and my only option was fast fashion, but then I would see multiple people wearing the same outfit as me, on the same days. I wanted to offer something new that's between contemporary brands and fast fashion."

What started as a side hustle is now a full-fledge production. Eom quit her job last summer to run the Shop Pêche website and physical store, which opened in January 2019, full time.

"We have a couple of loyal customers who visit literally every week just to see what new items are in the store," she says. "Our most popular items are the shoes, and I'm currently working hard to add more clothes online."

Already, you'll find fashion girls like Alyssa Coscarelli and Vivid Wu scooping up key basics, like a printed top or pair of pants. "I try to pick pieces that you can style with so many options, so that people don't even notice if you wear it three or four days in a row," says Eom.

Eom plans to continue expanding her business with the help of her husband, but for now she is happy to wear many hats. You can catch her posting new drops to Instagram or helping customers check out their purchases at the Williamsburg store (she doesn't have a sales associate just yet). Ummm, are you hiring, Eom?

Browse some of my favorite Shop Pêche pieces:

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